Merry Christmas Eve! Here is Part 2 of my Top Ten Games of 2014. What were your favorite games? Do you agree with my choices? Let me know! http://www.ign.com/blogs/falcon-x32/2014/12/24/whats-your-game-of-the-year-heres-mine-part-2/ - 2 years ago

May 21st, 2013, is the day the next-generation console wars will officially begin. Microsoft will finally unveil the successor to the wildly popular Xbox 360 and the video game industry as a whole will be changed forever. In anticipation on the upcoming #XboxReveal, I think it makes sense to gather all the rumors and discuss one final time what we all hope to see tomorrow.

The Name

You need an iconic name that will resonate with the millions of people looking to purchase your console. We've heard rumors of possible names for the next Xbox and some hold a little more weight than the others.

Xbox Infinity - This one makes sense in the fact that if you flip the "8" in Windows 8 you get the infinity symbol. Also, according to International Business Times, sources close to development of the console confirmed this will indeed be the name.

Xbox Fusion - Fusible has reported that Microsoft owns a few domains that fit the Xbox Fusion moniker. This could be true because Microsoft's whole mantra is having this system become the "center of your entertainment center." A Fusion, if you will.

Xbox Durango - Unlikely. Durango was the codename used internally.

Xbox 720 - 360 + 360 = 720.

Xbox - Simple and elegant. Bring it back to its roots while truly bringing it forward.

The Box and Controller

During the PlayStation 4 unveiling Sony chose not to show us the actual system itself. We saw the controller, a decent amount of games, and what the system can do, yet not what it looks like.

Does this even matter to you? As the old saying goes, "Isn't it what's on the inside that counts?"

Even still, the box should be nice to look at. If it's going to be the "Pièce de résistance" of your living room, it has to look sleek and modern.

As for the controller, not much needs to be done. The 360 controller does its job very admirably and changing it too much could do more harm than good. You could, as with the box, make it more sleek and maybe add a button or two, but the form factor is pretty sound.

Not so much like this...

The Games

This is where Microsoft needs to shine. Software sells systems, plain and simple. Sony owns many game development studios and has more exclusives than you can keep track of. When you look at Microsoft, what do you see? Halo, Gears of War, Forza, and Fable? While those are fantastic titles, do you think that's enough? These franchises have been around for a very long time and may not hold the allure they once did when the were first launched.

When it comes down to it, the next generation consoles will be very similar internally and what will sell them will be what differentiates them. The buzz going on around the industry is that Sony is in it for the gamers while Microsoft wants to capture it all. If they go to broad and alienate the gamers that made their systems great, it could backfire and cause some serious damage.

That being said, at the #XboxReveal we will get our first look at Infinity Ward's Call of Duty: Ghosts. This franchise spreads like a wild fire. Last years entry, Call of Duty: Black Ops II, sold $1 billion in just 15 days. For comparison, Avatar reached $1 billion in ticket sales in 17 days. This brand is huge and if Microsoft can secure exclusive and/or timed content, along with some fresh and enticing titles, they may just be in business.

The entertainment and inter-connectivity of media is great, but this system needs games and let's hope they don't forget that.

Kinect 2.0

Kinect is an interesting wild-card for the next system. The first iteration of Kinect showed a lot of promise, but the technology itself could not raise it up to its full potential. There was noticeable lag time, it wasn't supported enough, and in some cases, people didn't want to get up and flail their arms.

One of the other main problems with Kinect was that it was optional. Why would you, as a developer/publisher, want to spend all of your time developing software for an add-on that doesn't capture your whole market? It just doesn't make good business sense and unfortunately caused Kinect to stumble.

With Kinect 2.0, the technology will most likely catch up to the potential and truly give us a sense of one-to-one feedback, as well as be included with every console. Where this technology could really shine, however, is with voice recognition. Playing Mass Effect 3 while giving commands to your squad or even just navigating Netflix works surprisingly well. If they could take this and push it further, say, to power on or off your Xbox or bypassing countless sub-menus to get to the games you want to play, it could make interacting with this system that much easier and enjoyable.

Let's say you want to check the score of your favorite team while you are in an intense death-match in Call of Duty. During rounds you could just speak aloud,

"Xbox, Turn the TV to ESPN"

Once you see what shape your team happens to be in, you can then speak once again,

"Xbox, Switch back to Call of Duty."

All seamless, all integrated. That is the power of Kinect.

Xbox Live and Achievements

Xbox Live is Microsoft's bread and butter. Their online ecosystem and infrastructure is so sound that the competition pales in comparison. With the leap to the next console, Microsoft needs to stay true to its vision and keep doing what it does best.

Achievements are another factor that Microsoft must handle with care. We all know those people out there who must do everything possible in a game to raise their Gamerscore to astronomical heights. Be it for bragging rights or personal accomplishment, these achievements are very important to Xbox gamers. Whatever form the next Xbox Live ends up taking, they better make sure all of our previous achievements carry over, or they may have more than just a console war on their hands.

One other thing to consider. With Sony's acquisition of Gaikai, they established a true advantage over their competition. They acquired a company that knows about cloud gaming and sharing content, and if used correctly could truly be a game changer. You will be able to automatically share your game footage, play demos without the need to download them, and even jump into other's games to help them through a tough segment. Their have been rumors that the next Xbox has some of these features, but without an industry expert like Gaikai, it will be interesting to see what they have done on their own or with help we don't yet know about.

Always Online

This is perhaps that biggest point of contention. One of the biggest rumors, and potentially most hazardous as far as Microsoft is concerned, is that this new system must always be online. That would mean if your power went out or you didn't have access to high-speed internet, you would NOT be able to play your console.

This stems from the fact that the used game market is hurting the industry. In turn, developers are looking for ways to combat that and ensure the maximum amount of revenue. This, however, takes it too far. The fact remains that not everyone in this world has access to broadband. It also holds true that we, as a society, are still affected by power outages. These two facts alone warrant enough consideration to ensure that this isn't a reality.

Former Xbox Creative Director Adam Orth didn't see it that way though. He took to Twitter and got himself in a lot of trouble by tweeting such sentiments as, "Sometimes the electricity goes out. I will not purchase a vacuum cleaner." Then he proceeded to post the following picture, which caused major uproar.

Look, it makes sense to want to be connected to the internet and offer the players as many features as possible, especially as it pertains to friends and online communities. Saying we are forced to be online and will not be able to play at all without internet, however, is just plain unfair. Hopefully Adam Orth's outlook doesn't represent Microsoft as a whole, considering he "departed the company" shortly after that fiasco.

Luckily, An e-mail that was sent to employees working on the next Xbox seems to debunk all these negative rumors,

“Durango is designed to deliver the future of entertainment while engineered to be tolerant of today's Internet. There are a number of scenarios that our users expect to work without an Internet connection, and those should 'just work' regardless of their current connection status. Those include, but are not limited to: playing a Blu-ray disc, watching live TV, and yes playing a single player game.”

Let's hope this holds true.

Those are only a few examples of what to expect from tomorrow's #XboxReveal. What are you hoping for come May 21st, 2013 at 10am PDT / 1pm EDT? What are your opinions on the points above? What do YOU want out of the next Xbox, or are you all in for PlayStation 4? Let me know below and have your voice heard!